MEAT-FED CALVES

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 79, 30 September 1931, Page 14

MEAT-FED CALVES

IRON-EATING: SHEEP

SOPHISTICATED FARM STOCK

THE CHEMIST'S ERA

The. farm animal's dietary is extending. No longer is he merely a grass-eaJsi1. He has even ceased to be a vegetaria' - -.""lives now take their meat-meal. '.. ;■ ironhungry sheep on iron-deficient pastures receives food iron in' the form of a '"lick." The "lick" method can be supplemented by feeding to the auimal hay and ensilage, which have been treated with iron carbonate and salt. . "This iron is given as a. food and not as a medicine," writes Mr. B. 0. Aston in the "New Zealand Journal of Agriculture." He adds1 that "by tins means the animal supplements the deficient amount of iron in the natural foods; therefore the iron must be given systematically in the same way as any other food." MAMAKU IRON-ADDICTS. An iron! tonic to a run-down man remains a medicine^ but "the'iroix fed regularly, to iron-hungry animals is indeed a food. It is even more of a. food than aspirins are to women—though some women, it is said, do-make: meals of them. Certainly the farm animals have no consciousness that 'they are living a laboratory, instead of a purely grass existence. "The ewes at Mamakii chase the attendant when he puts out the chaff and 'lick' in small heaps (with'a little'aniseed oil) on the ground. The cattle are the same." The last quoted.sentences are taken from a letter written to Mr. Aston.by "a farmer in a large way on the Mamaku Plateau." This letter Mr. Aston regards as strikingly confirming his conviction that "it is quite possible to farm Mamakri country with either sheep or cattle." Taken with other information, the letter indicates that "Hi™ bush-sickness bogy need no lonpsi" be feared in any scheme for settling country reported to be the very worst for sickness." .'•■•••-. . ■ ■ • Here are some other points from the letter:— ■ . . ■-.'.- "We are handling a large number of cattle and sheep at: our bush block, and also at Mamaku. About twenty trucks of fafstock have been loaded out"this year. We have had 350 ewes in lamb at Mamaku since February. All the rams will have been liere two years, 'with.- the exception of a change of two months. The stock have done remarkably : well here; The land has been top-dressed. An iron and iodine lick has been used—molasses; bran, iodine, sulphate, and carbonate of iron. We always put some in our haystacks. We are quite confident that your Department's work is going to have great results in this district. We have had 250 head of cattle and ,1000 s^ieep on our bush farm. Our fat stockl have realised good prices at Westfieldi the sheep- in some cases topping the market." ■ { PREVENTIVE: CURATIVE. Mr. Aston emphasises the difference between food iron and iron given in quite another way as a medicine. In the passage quoted below, he italicises the words "preventive"' and "curative" :— "Kemembering .that the iron is given as a food; the whole treatment of the iron-hungry animals on the 'pastures of the pumice lands becomes a reasonable continuous-process in the mind of the farmer, who' is able to. see. that one or two doses will, not cure a sick animal any more than, one or two meals will keep,'a man from, starving'a day" or so later:. It .is necessary to stress this point, as some Eurchasers of the iron compounds sold y the Department seem to expect that a cure once effectied. should be permanent. "The cost of the -iron is so low per head of stock,that no farmer on any area that is even slightly affected with bush sickness can afford to neglect this preventive treatment. If at any time a curative treatment becomes necessary for individual animals, systematic drenching with citrate of iron-(2ozrof a 6 per cent, solution) will effect a speedy cure. ' ■ : "The automatic method of administering this food iron to ruminant stock by licks can be supplemented by feeding hay and ensilage which have been treated with the iron carbonate and salt. The pellet method is more expensive, but the amount it is economical •to feed has not; been, determined. If meat-meal feeding, at Is 3d per sheep, for three months, proves as effective as the pellet method with larger quantities and longer feeding, using vegetable meal, further progress in supplementary winter feeding may be made on the bush-sick lands."' WHEY PLUS MEAT-MEAL. Now for the. meat-meal. This is the subject of an article' by the Live Stock Division, which writes on meat-meal for calMeeding. Calves fedr on whey, which is lacking, in proteins (flesh-forming constituents), are especially in need of a reliable protein-rich > food to fortify the whey. They find it-, in. meat-meal. When calves are fed on skim-milk, which has not the samej deficiency as whey, they do not need as much meatmeal, but a little of it :is helpful. ' f ■ ■ The following table of protein content' is informative: — .-: -i ■. , : I ■ - ' Protein.' :. -'-.'■■'■ ', ■■" : "•■■■ "■ - MbS. 1001b whey contains .■...;......... 1 1001b skim-milk contains ........... 3% 1001b . young grass .contains 5 1001b linseed contains .... ;... 22 < 1001b meat-meal contains ' 60 The above • scale confirms the ' fall of the calf from vegetarianism. Young grass being comparatively' rich in protein, the calf s dependence on meatmeal . will be greater before it cau feed on such grass," than later. ' "As'an abundant supply'of flesh-form-ing foqd is essential for the satisfactory growth of young'animals, whey by itself naturally gives unsatisfactory returns in the feeding of calves, and there is a tendency to use unnecessarily large quantities: In the past .whey has frequently been supplemented with pollard, oil, grain, etc., but as none of ;these are particulai-ly high in protein they do not •economically replace a, high-protein food essential in increasing the nutritive efficiency of the whey. ■ ■ ■ ■ . ■ A FREEZING COMPANY PRODUCT. "The cheapest and most reliable proteinrich food for inclusion with whey for calffeeding is nieat-riieal, now being prepared by most of the freezing companies at a price in the vicinity of £11 per ton, or roughly H4d per pound. When purchasing meat-meal the: analysis should always be demanded, and those containing from 56 to 60 or more per cent.. of protein are recommended as the most suitable." '"When feeding calves on skim-milk, .farmers desirous of including' meat-meal may use a bout one-b'alf of the amounts recommended in connection with whey feeding.- -. -. . As protein-rich foods arc dearer than protein-poor foods, an excessive use of meat-meal -with skim-milk would be wasteful and expensive feeding; in other words, if protein is used in excess in animal nutrition, the proeedm-e is not economical/ the excessive nitrogen being excreted by the kidneys in the form of urea.' • ;